Oakton held an art exhibit opening the artists’ pieces of work on display on Oct. 3. Students had the opportunity to go inside this exhibit and look around while artists were next to their creations, available to answer questions to explain more about their inspirations behind their pieces. 

In order to get a better idea of art and what the image or creation is trying to convey, I attended the exhibit. As a person that’s never really understood this type of concept, I came in with an open mind. Also wanted to see if I would get inspired myself to do something similar.

The room was filled with 66 projects that were varied and  diverse as it seemed there was something that appealed to the taste for anyone. The artists seemed experienced and professional in their craft, they were not students.  

The one that caught my eye the most, and the one that I dissected, was a portrait of a homeless person with a blurred face while holding a sign that says, “I need money for hookers and blow.’’ I assumed that it was a homeless man if he were telling the truth, and what it says about society as a whole, and the pamphlet that had that section confirmed my thoughts. The brochure explained the meaning behind the projects, as well as the inspirations that drove them to create it. 

Overall, I had a hard time deciphering the art, I basically went in blind and tried to form my own thoughts on the meanings behind these creations. 

For the most part, I couldn’t figure out what the artist was trying to say, until I found a brochure that was being provided to us later on. 

I was definitely interested because this was all new to me, so I picked the pamphlet up and started looking into it. Majority of the displays were starting to make sense, in terms of what meaning they had, and some were very clever at pulling it off.

 Others, however, still didn’t make sense to me, as I just couldn’t really connect the dots with the explanation and the piece. 

Just to think when I think I got the meaning of a piece of art, it could actually go deeper than what I may think, and it could be something that is really unexpected. 

I saw a painting of Team USA winning the World Cup Final trophy, and I just assumed it had something to deal with the Women’s evolution in sports and its impact on the sports community overall. Turns out, it did, but the inspiration that went into this goes way deeper than that, and I found out that I partly understood the art.  

According to the brochure, the artist was born in Shanghai, and she recalls a time in which her city was getting bombed while with her grandma. They both survived the tragedy, but it wasn’t easy, as her grandma struggled to avoid destruction because of her bound feet, it was a burdyn just to walk around. 

When she saw Team USA hold up that trophy, she sees it as a celebration of women empowerment, going from bound feet deformation, to global sports stars.